1. Field
The invention is in the field of camping equipment, and particularly equipment that organizes and holds other camping equipment for easy access and use.
2. State of the Art
There are various types of containers for carrying and organizing camping gear. These containers open to provide access to the gear carried. U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,599, for example, discloses a camper""s chuck cabinet which holds camping kitchen items and opens to provide access to the items carried and provides a paper towel dispenser and utensil hooks on the lid of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,646 shows an adjustable outdoor cooking rack comprising a vertical pole with cooking platforms extending therefrom. The pole is inserted into the ground adjacent a campfire and the cooking platforms rotated to desired positions over the fire. A hook is provided to hang a coffee pot over the fire. There is no provision for holding items other than pots and pans.
U.S. Pat. No. D435,685 shows an adjustable lantern holder comprising a pole inserted into the ground with an arm extending from the top with a hook for holding a lantern.
There remains a need for a rack that can be easily set up and used for holding a number of camping items during camping, and particularly cooking and related items, to make such items easily available, and that disassembles and folds into a package that is easy to store and transport.
According to the invention, a device for holding camping items ready for use at a campsite includes a support pole having at least one support arm pivotally attached thereto for movement between an extended support position wherein the support arm extends from the support pole to support camping items thereon and a storage position wherein the support arm is pivoted to be substantially aligned with and against the support pole for storage of the device. The support pole is held in substantially vertical position during use by either a clamp which clamps it in position to a substantially horizontal surface such as the top or bench of a picnic table, or by driving the lower end of the support pole into the ground.
In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of support arms are provided for holding a plurality of camping items. For example, one arm may support a lantern, other arms support cooking utensils or other items, and one arm may be configured to support a roll of paper towels. A weight arm may be provided to rest on the paper towel roll to keep towels from blowing away and to offer resistance to rolling of the roll to help in tearing towels off the roll.
Various item supporting structures in addition to the item support arms may be mounted on the support pole for supporting items such as garbage bags, condiments, and a cutting board. Such support structures may include a mounting sleeve to fit around the support pole so the structure can be secured to the pole in desired positions. The sleeve can slidably fit around the support pole so the structure can be slid along the pole to desired position and then secured to the pole, such as by a thumb screw in the sleeve, in the desired position.
The support pole is preferably provided in sections that fit together so the pole can be disassembled into its sections for easy storage. Assembly of the sections allows for easy placement of the sleeves of desired supporting structures around the pole as the sections are assembled and allows interchangeable sections, such as interchangeable bottom sections, to be selected for assembly. With interchangeable bottom sections, the user can choose between a section that is driven into the ground for holding the pole in substantially vertical position or a section that is secured to a substantially horizontal surface, such as the top of a picnic table, for holding the pole in substantially vertical position, as conditions dictate. Further, depending upon the bottom section chosen, more or fewer intermediate sections can be used to place the top section, the one usually having the support arms, at desired height off the ground for convenient use.